summary of my attendance at UKUUG committe meeting

[garylloyd]

		  I met today
with the UKUUG (UK Unix and Open Systems User Group). Committee The
group has existed for 30 years and now has a strong Open Source Agenda
which they came to through Open Standards. Their agenda is firmly at
the technical rather than â??managerialâ?? end of the spectrum. I was
invited to their meeting, to explore ways of collaborating.
The UKUUG
are keen to collaborate with us and will publicise our meetings to
their members if we reciprocate. They also see the potential for
holding joint meetings and cited a specific example.
I was
advised that BECTA, The British Educational Communications and
Technology Agency have recently completed a report, based on case
studies, on the adoption of Open Source in schools. A briefing was,
apparently, held that suggested significant cost savings in schools
from adopting OSS. The report has been delayed until after the election.
The UKUUG
say that they asked BECTA how they were going to follow up,
practically, on the report. BECTA advised, if I understood correctly,
that this was not their role. The UKUUG would, therefore, suggest to
BECTA that there be a conference in September to address the report.
They would like that conference to be a joint one with the BCS, the
Open Source Consortium and SchoolsForge.
I made
encouraging noises but said I would obviously have to check with our
committee and it would depend on the agenda once shaped. They asked
about the potential for using the BCS premises in Southampton Street to
host. I said that it might be possible but the BCS would probably want
to see the BCS OSSG in a leading role. They said this would be no
problem. Views?
They have an
embryonic idea about Linux qualifications (I think) as a gradual â??Scout
Badgeâ?? scheme. I said that if they wanted to propose some sort of
professional scheme of accreditation, we could potentially involve the
BCS team who deal with qualifications and see if there is potential to
collaborate.
I am going
to liaise and see how things progress.

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